AMA: Still a 'No' on Physician-Assisted Suicide

But AMA council report shoring up that opinion doesn't meet with delegates' approval

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The American Medical Association (AMA) stance on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) remains unchanged after its Interim Meeting, but a move to solidify the group's opposition to the practice, also known as medical aid-in-dying (MAID), failed to win approval.

During a meeting of the AMA House of Delegates Monday, delegates ultimately voted 275-259 to not adopt the report. The report was referred to the committee for further exploration.

The vote aligns with the recommendation from the AMA Reference Committee on Amendments to the Constitution on Bylaws, which also recommended referral of the report back to CEJA.

Prior to the vote Monday, John Cullen, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), explained that the AAFP had based its own position on PAS/MAID on the AMA code of ethics. However, AAFP determined that this approach "did not give adequate guidance" to AAFP members in the seven states, and the District of Columbia, where PAS/ MAID is now legal.

In an earlier committee discussion, Roger Kligler, MD, an AMA member and internist from Falmouth, Massachusetts, also urged referral. Kligler, who has advanced prostate cancer, is suing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the right to support MAID.

Kligler said he was disappointed to find the new CEJA report is "virtually identical" to the last one. "CEJA acknowledges physicians with shared values can draw 'different moral conclusion from the underlying values in good faith,' but recommends no change to the code of medical ethics that medical aid in dying/physician assisted suicide [is] 'fundamentally incompatible with the physicians' role as healer.'"

He stressed the need for the AMA to adopt a neutral position in order to "respect ethical physicians on both sides."

Jeffrey White, MD, an alternate delegate for the Louisiana State Medical Society, took a different view. Speaking from the House floor on Monday, White opposed that recommendation for referral, and called for immediate adoption of the CEJA report that he deemed a "well-considered compromise."

"For those of us who oppose [PAS], it preserves existing language that says that this practice is 'fundamentally incompatible with a physician's role as healer,' but it does not say that it is unethical behavior," he said. "For those in favor, it refers them to the 'exercise of conscience' policy 1.17, which allows a physician to act in accordance with their well-considered beliefs."

Sergio Seoane, MD, an alternate delegate from Florida pressed for adoption. He also said physicians should focus on finding ways to end patients pain, not their lives.

"If adequate palliative care is given, in almost all cases, [it can] relieve pain and suffering, depression, hopelessness, and general psychological distress, which are consistently associated with inquiries about physician-assisted suicide," he said.

Seoane rejected assertions from proponents of PAS/MAID that the AMA's opposition might put their licenses in jeopardy or create legal problems. "There has never been a single physician prosecuted in the United States, where these laws exist allowing [PAS], with the AMA's current ethical policies," he said.

Seoane added that "the CEJA report accurately describes what this actually is -- suicide. To call it anything else is dishonest."

Accessibility Statement

At MedPage Today, we are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access all of the content offered by MedPage Today through our website and other properties. If you are having trouble accessing www.medpagetoday.com, MedPageToday's mobile apps, please email legal@ziffdavis.com for assistance. Please put "ADA Inquiry" in the subject line of your email.